Family Secrets
by ToTheJourney2014
Summary: Two more members of the Swan family arrive in Forks with a secret that rocks Charlie.
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a prologue of sorts to give some background information so it's not really my best story-telling.

It had been seventeen years since Marissa Swan had left her hometown of Forks, Washington, despite the best efforts of her older brother. She had been in love and determined to follow the young man who had captured her heart anywhere he led her. Besides, she had known her big brother had his own life and didn't need her in the way of it.

Charlie Swan had married Renee, the love of his life, and the two of them had been expecting their first child when Marissa had made the announcement that she was leaving Forks with John Morgan. He fought as hard as he could to convince her to stay, even though he had known it would be impossible to change her mind. She was more stubborn than a mule when her mind was made up about something.

John Morgan was a native of Los Angeles, California. He had come to Forks, Washington, on a dare from his friends after they had all graduated high school. He wanted to attend the Los Angeles Police Academy the coming fall instead of going to college. They wanted him to prove he could by spending an entire summer camped out in the woods of Forks. He had met Marissa and Charlie Swan during his second week in the area. Within a month, he was in love. Six weeks later, when it was getting close to time for him to return to Los Angeles, he was asking Marissa to go with him.

To Marissa, it had been an easy decision to make. While she loved her big brother and enjoyed their small community, she had always dreamed of traveling and seeing other places. It only took her a day to convince Charlie that she was making the right decision for herself. She had fallen in love with John almost as quickly as he had fallen for Renee and couldn't bear the thought of staying while John went back home.

John and Marissa had returned to his Los Angeles home with only two day to spare before he had to leave for the police academy. While he was in training, Marissa had stayed in the home he had always shared with his single mother. The two women worked together to plan a simple ceremony, and she and John were married the day after his graduation from the police academy twelve weeks later. Charlie and Renee flew down to Los Angeles and spent the three days before the wedding with them, going back home the day after the wedding while John and Marissa had flown to New York City for their honeymoon.

John and Marissa found themselves a modest two bedroom home only a few blocks away from the one he had been raised in as soon as they returned home from New York City. She enrolled in a local university, receiving special permission to stay off campus since she was married. Their life fell into an easy routine that pleased them both.

During Marissa's sophomore year, she discovered she was pregnant. She worried a little about having and raising a baby while still in school, but she knew she could do it with the help of her husband and mother-in-law. She was constantly worried about John's safety, but she tried to never let it show. She knew her mother-in-law worried as much as she did, and she didn't want to add to the other woman's stress.

John doted on Marissa and the baby, a little girl they named Natasha, spoiling them rotten. When Natasha was three years old, John was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He was one of the top police officers in an elite drug task unit.

Marissa had graduated from college and was doing her residency at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. The entire family celebrated three years later when she earned the status of Head Attending Physician of Emergency Medicine at the same hospital.

Marissa was on duty the night that John was brought into the emergency room. Natasha was ten years old and staying with her grandma for a few days while Marissa worked the overnight shift and John was undercover on a new assignment. She had let out one scream when she saw him being rushed in before getting herself under control. She managed to get him stabilized to be able to go upstairs for surgery and then had to wait for word while other doctors worked to save his life.

John died on the operating table at four in the morning. He had been shot during a raid on a drug lab.

Natasha was twelve when Marissa started getting sick. It took a year before the cause was finally diagnosed, because the doctors kept diagnosing the wrong things. The diagnosis came two months after her grandmother died from a heart attack.

Marissa had adult onset leukemia, and the prognosis wasn't good. She went through three rounds of intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments, but nothing seemed to be helping. She and her doctors worked together to find the latest treatments possible to try to push her cancer into remediation.

Natasha spent her days going to school and working part-time at a local diner. She was technically too young to work, but the owner was aware of the situation she and her mother were in and was doing his best to help them out without making it appear to be charity. She took the test and earned her hardship driver's license when she was fourteen so she could do the errands for the house and drive her mother to and from her doctor's appointments. But everything was taking its toll on the teenager, and she knew that something was going to have to change. She couldn't bear the thought of losing her mother. There had to be something they could do.

Natasha was aware that her cousin, Bella, was now living with her father in Forks. She also knew that the sun-loving Bella wasn't exactly happy with the arrangement, but she could understand the reasons behind her cousin's decision. She would have done the exact same thing to make her own mother happy if she had been in Bella's position. Her cousin was the only one that Natasha knew she could really talk to about the situation with her mother since Marissa was adamant that her brother not know any of the details about her medical condition.

As far as Charlie was aware, Marissa was completely healthy and still working her long hours in the emergency room of Cedars-Sinai. He had no idea that her health had deteriorated to the point where she could no longer work. He was going to be in for a huge surprise when the two of them showed up in Forks, but that was the plan that Bella and Natasha had decided would be the best option.

Bella had told Natasha all about Dr. Carlisle Cullen, expressing her opinion that if anyone would be able to help her Aunt Marissa it would be him. The only two hurdles remaining was to convince Marissa that it was the best option and to get the two of them to Forks. Flying wasn't an option, because Marissa wouldn't be able to handle sitting on a plane for the time it would take.

Natasha was going to have to drive. It would take several hours longer than the normal nineteen to get from Los Angeles to Forks because of having to stop frequently for her mother, but she was determined. The two of them were going to move to Forks.


	2. Chapter 2

Natasha glanced over where her mother lay on the passenger seat of their 1999 Honda Accord. She had reclined the seat back as much as it would go, using her own jacket to create a pillow and covering her mom with one of their blankets to try to help make the older woman as comfortable as possible. She sighed as she glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was only about eight o'clock at night, but she had been driving for a little over ten hours. She knew her mom would never be able to get any real rest unless they stopped for a while. She pulled into an empty parking spot in front of the office of a Best Western hotel and shut off the engine. "I'll be back soon, Mom," she spoke quietly. "I'm going to go get us a room for the night."

"Can I help you?" the man behind the counter inquired, watching as the young teenage girl approached him. He looked around for one of her parents.

"I'd like to rent a room for one night," Natasha requested, reaching into her back pocket to pull out the man's wallet she carried. It had belonged to her father.

The man shook his head. "We don't rent rooms to minors."

Natasha sighed. "It's for me and my mom," she responded. "She's just too sick to come inside." She saw the look that crossed the man's face and sighed again, this time in aggravation. "She has leukemia," she informed him. "It's nothing contagious." She shifted slightly on her feet. "Look. I've been driving for a little over ten hours, and my mom can't take being in the car for very much longer. Please just let us rent a room."

The man still looked doubtful, but he picked up one of the forms the guests were supposed to fill out whenever they registered for a room and stepped around the counter. "I hope your mom is well enough to be able to sign her name. Otherwise there's nothing I'll be able to do." He took a few minutes to help the girl fill the form out in her mother's name and then led her outside, following her over to their car. He watched as the girl gently coaxed her mother awake and got her to sign the form, nodding in satisfaction. "Stay here if you wish. I'll be back in a few minutes with your room key."

Natasha nodded, leaning against the side of the car while she waited. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed her uncle's number, waiting for him to pick up. She automatically breathed a little easier as she heard his voice. "Hi, Uncle Charlie," she responded to his greeting. "I just wanted to let you know that we're making great time. I'm checking us into a Best Western hotel for the night so mom can get some better rest. We'll leave out early in the morning and should be there by dinner time tomorrow night."

"Sounds great, Tash," Charlie replied. "I'll be sure to let Bell know. She's been looking forward to your visit. He sighed just a little. "I wish you and your mom would tell me what's going on. It's not like her to need to stop this early when traveling."

"Everything's okay, Uncle Charlie," Natasha said, hoping she sounded more truthful than she felt. "I just wanted to come out and spend my spring break with you and Bella, and Mom agreed that it was a great idea." She wanted to wait until she and her mom actually arrived before she told her uncle the whole situation, knowing if he knew the truth he would insist on driving to meet up with the two of them so that he could accompany them to his home in Forks.

Charlie sighed, knowing something was wrong but also that he couldn't push it over the phone. "Give me a holler before you two head out in the morning, and we'll see you when you get here. Love you and your mom, Tash."

"We love you, too, Uncle Charlie." Natasha hit the button on her cell phone to end the phone call and slipped the phone back into her pocket and glancing over as the man from behind the desk came back out.

The man handed her a credit card shaped key. "The two of you are staying in Room one twenty-eight," he stated as he gave her a copy of the paperwork along with the key. He turned around and pointed to the section of hotel that was just to the right of the office. "It's five doors down from here, so you don't have far to go." He offered the young girl a smile. "Be sure to call over and let us know if you need anything at all."

"Thanks," Natasha responded, slipping the key into her pocket and folding the paperwork to put in the glove compartment. She shook the man's hand before sliding behind the wheel to move the car over in front of the room door, helping her mom inside and getting her settled in for the night before unloading their toiletry bag and one of the suitcases from the trunk of the car.

~C~

Natasha slid behind the wheel of the car after getting her mom settled onto the passenger seat and dialed her uncle's number to let him know they were leaving out. "We'll be there by dinner time," she told him before hanging up and backing out of the parking space to start the last part of their trip. She lost herself in the drive, feeling as if she never let out the breath she was holding until she pulled to a stop outside of her uncle's house later that night.

Charlie Swan hurried out his front door as soon as he heard the car pulling to a stop outside. He threw on the porch light and jogged down the front steps to greet his young niece as she was climbing out from behind the wheel. "I still can't believe you're driving," he muttered as he shook his head, pulling her into a tight hug. "You're not old enough."

"It's called a hardship license, Dad," Bella commented as she joined them. "Tasha's been driving for over a year." She moved over to the passenger side and opened the door to help her aunt out of the car.

Charlie's eyes widened as he got a really good look at his sister for the first time in several years. He let go of his niece and hurried forward to help Bella. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded to know. He scooped his sister into his arms and gently brushed the hair away from her face. "Marissa? Can you hear me?"

Marissa groaned softly and closed her eyes again after seeing that they had made it to her brother's house. "I'm fine, Charlie," she replied, her voice thick with sleepiness. "I'm just tired. That's all. Take me inside."

Bella grabbed one of the suitcases and a couple of the bags while Natasha did the same, hurrying forward to open their front door so her dad could carry her aunt inside. She jumped slightly as Edward took the bags from both her and her cousin. She had actually almost forgotten he was there, even though that seemed impossible. She gave him a grateful smile and turned to help her dad get her aunt inside.

Charlie carried Marissa inside and laid her down on the couch, jumping just a little when Edward handed him a blanket. "Thanks," he muttered. He tucked the blanket around his sister and then looked up at Natasha. "I think you have some explaining to do, little girl," he commented as he scooped the teenager into his arms and sat down on his favorite recliner with her on his lap.

Natasha bit her lip as everything that she had been bottling up for the past several years suddenly came boiling to the surface. She trembled as the tears pooled in her eyes and began to spill over onto her cheeks while she buried her face against her uncle's shoulder. "Momma's really sick, Uncle Charlie," she managed to reply in broken whispers. "She didn't want you to know. You know how proud she is." She took a shaky breath. "She's got leukemia, and the treatments they've been giving her this time aren't working to get rid of it."


End file.
